Mr. Ford's Coal

Information is beginning to leak out regarding some experiments Henry Ford has been conducting for several years in connection with a new, low-temperature process for burning and distilling bituminous coal. Preliminary tests have been made quietly in a small plant at Huntington, W. Va., and two new plants are now under construction, one at River Rouge, Michigan, adjoining the Ford plant there, and a second at Walkerville, Ontario. Until these plants have been in operation for some time, the extent to which the new process is commercially successful cannot be determined.

Previously, the distillation of coal has been undertaken mainly to produce illuminating gas and the residue of coke, and has been conducted at high temperatures. The new process, by conducting the distillation of the coal at low temperature, sacrifices about half of the maximum obtainable illuminating gas, as well as ammonium sulphate. On the other hand, the illuminating gas resulting from the new process is of a better quality, and five times the amount of motor fuel oil is obtained, in addition to benzine, pitch, creosote and innumerable coal tar products.

Distillation of coal has been the basis for several of the famous ''lateral trusts" in Germany.